Browser grousing

[muckefuck]

So today is the day we all move to IE--or so I discovered ten minutes ago.

As is usual whenever we migrate software here, this means lost functionality. My bookmarks won't import ("This is very interesting! It worked fine for everyone else.") and the handy LEO German Dictionary plug-in is gone. (I installed it in Netscape in mere seconds by dragging and dropping; for IE, I first had to download several files and unzip them, only to have the installer fail for completely opaque reasons.)

To make matters even worse, this is all ultimately my fault. Last month, I started seeing messages on one of my most frequently-visited (work) sites that they were discontinuing support for Netscape 4.X in mid-January. I brought this to the attention of my supervisor, in the hopes that IT would finally upgrade our browsers. (Why didn't I quietly upgrade it myself? Because local IT has the most insanely restrictive privilege settings of any place I know of. I'm lucky they let me change the desktop wallpaper!) I was hoping for Netscape 6.X or--even better--Mozilla, but they decided to go to IE (and IE5.5 at that). GRRRR!!!!

Comments

[kayiwa.livejournal.com]

I am always fascinated by the philosophy that restricts users access to computers. I have found that it ends up giving the [IT] department more work. We always find that students/ staff etc., are more determined to find a loop hole in your security system. I have no empirical evidence for this but it seems to me that policing should not be one of our responsibilities.

[kaynorr.livejournal.com]

Having today watched a co-worker of mine spend 45 minutes ripping various user-installed apps on a computer that caused all manner of instability, I have new appreciation for such policies. Most people are not that stupid, granted, but as with most things in life a few idiots can spoil things for everyone.

That said, one of the advantages of working in higher-education IT is that such pronouncements are usually few and far between. Of course, there are times when I wish that we could hand down righteous flaming justice to people who clearly deserve it. But hey, I knew dealing with people was part of the job when I signed up.

[kayiwa.livejournal.com]

Having today watched a co-worker of mine spend 45 minutes ripping various user-installed apps on a computer that caused all manner of instability, I have new appreciation for such policies. Most people are not that stupid, granted, but as with most things in life a few idiots can spoil things for everyone.

The power of Ghost would make that much easier. We prefer to place the burden on the user. If you crash/trash it -we will ghost it back to life but make no guarantees of your personal settings.

Had this been at my place of work we would delay stabilizing/fixing this person's computer -unless network security was getting breached. In those cases we simply filter the machine and let them use a quill and parchment for 48 hours. That usually educates them on the importance of using computers with some responsibility.